New Delhi, March 16 (IANS) The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has confirmed that it has not received any formal communication from Iran regarding a potential withdrawal of its national football team from the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Iran have already secured qualification for the expanded 48-team tournament, which will take place across the United States, Canada and Mexico from June 11 to July 19. The team is currently scheduled to play two of its group-stage matches in Los Angeles and one in Seattle.

Speculation about Iran’s participation emerged after the country’s sports minister said the team could not take part in the tournament following US airstrikes carried out alongside Israel on Tehran, which reportedly resulted in the death of the Islamic Republic’s supreme leader.

Addressing the situation, AFC General Secretary Windsor John said the governing body had only been informed that Iran still plans to compete.

“It’s a very emotional moment. Everybody’s saying a lot of things. At the end ‌of the day, it’s the federation who should decide if ⁠they’re ‌playing, and as of today, the federation has told us that they are going to the World Cup. They are our member, we want them to play. ⁠You know, they qualified…so we hope that they will solve their ⁠issues, whatever it is, and be able to participate,” John told reporters in Kuala Lumpur.

Earlier, US President Donald Trump said Iran would be permitted to take part in the tournament, though he suggested it might not be advisable for safety reasons.

The Iranian national football team strongly rejected the comments, asserting that no country has the authority to prevent them from participating in a tournament organised by FIFA.

“The World Cup is a historic and international event and its governing body is FIFA – not any individual, country. Iran’s national team, with strength and a series of decisive victories achieved by the brave sons of Iran, was among the first teams to qualify for this major tournament. Certainly, no one can exclude Iran’s national team from the World Cup; the only country that could be excluded is one that merely carries the title of ‘host’ yet lacks the ability to provide security for the teams participating in this global event,” the team wrote in a post on Instagram.

If Iran were to formally pull out, it would mark the first such withdrawal from the tournament in the modern era and would force FIFA to quickly identify a replacement team.

–IANS

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